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bakerstreet2016-11-18 01:39 pm
moosejuice) wrote in bakerstreet2016-11-18 01:39 pm
No loyalty like it in the world
The AU!Pet Person Meme (Shipping & Smut)
| >> premise | |
| Hello, and welcome to The Care and Keeping of Your Pet! As you surely know, a pet is a big responsibility, and we're so glad you've decided to be a conscientious master. A safe pet is a happy pet, and this handbook is certain to keep your precious lifelong friend as content as can be. The history of the animal person is a long and difficult one, with their origins not being known even to this day. However, scientists believe that despite our common appearance - most animal people have humanoid forms except for the ears, tails, and sometimes teeth - we share no common ancestry, even if the ascent of this species corresponds with that of the homo sapiens. We gained dominance over each breed thousands of years ago, beginning with the dog type, who have long been considered "man's best friend." Most breeds these days are docile and perfect for owners of any speed. Of course, it is our duty as the superior species to take care of these animal creatures, and this is inherent in their genetic makeup. Everyone knows that an animal person, when matched with their correct human master, is loyal for life - a true "soulmate," if you will. Far be it for us to turn this away! Ever since the Great Domestication, these intelligent and loving animals have served us as friends, workmates, guardians, servants, and sexual companions and will for years to come. Despite recent hubbub from so-called "Pet People's Rights Activists," this way of life is wholesome and good. Scientific research shows that the natural desire of the pet person is to be owned and cared for by a human. So, it's your first pet. What do you need to know?
With that said, thank you and welcome to your first day as a pet's master! |
As previously stated, pet people come in as many breeds as you can possibly think of. By far and away the most popular are the dog and cat types, but exotic birds and lizards have been gaining popularity among trendsetters from L.A. to Tokyo!| >> how to play | |
| Needless to say, The Care and Keeping of Your Pet is a bit biased and full of propaganda, but it gives a good idea of the world your character is now AU's into. They are either a pet person or a human master, and what that means for them varies. So are they a devoted pet or a rebellious animal person looking to buck the system? A generous master or a cruel sexual sadist? Just a normal pet owner? Most likely they're something in between, but when you're raised in this world, it's difficult to see anything different on the horizon. Rules
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Kei Tsukishima - Haikyuu!! - ota
[For master, this probably wasn't his idea, and he's blaming his brother one way or another. He's sometimes aloof, often condescending, and a bit of a shittalker at times, although his cool head and intelligence can't be denied. Long time or observant pets might even note his softer (if awkward) moments, or lack of certainty in some areas.]
[For pet, congratulations. You've decided to go with the difficult decision of raising a crow as a pet! Highly intelligent, simultaneously bold but sensitive, they require constant attention, lots of space, and to be kept away from anything that's easy for them to destroy. Tsukki is no different, his shiny black wings giving him away and with some scaled and taloned feet. Take care; he won't forget if you don't treat him appropriately.]
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Oh, it's not like some deeper instinct of his doesn't yearn for it. His kind has been domesticated, after all - although it's argued, in some circles, that cats domesticated themselves, a fact Kuroo alternately finds intriguing and off-putting. On the one hand, cats domesticating themselves suggests that they've always been independent, that they're not some lesser creatures being subjugated by a supposedly superior race but that they made a choice to engage with humans, theoretically as equals. Because - and this is what Kuroo finds off-putting about the idea - he can't imagine why his kind would ever have willingly chosen to to be considered, and treated, as inferior to humans. If cats chose to domesticate themselves, Kuroo feels, then the circumstances must have been different back then. Maybe cats used to be treated as equals, and over time the distinction between chosen and forced domestication was lost and cats began to be treated like all other pets. Or maybe all pets used to be treated differently in the past. Kuroo doesn't know; what information he could find on the subject, back when he was free, hadn't exactly been comprehensive.
Because he had been free, originally. He'd been born a stray, away from humans. And then he'd gotten sick, and as a result of being sluggish and ill he'd gotten caught and put in a pound. They'd nursed him back to health, he'd give them that much...but they'd certainly had no intention of releasing him afterwards. They'd assured him they'd find him an owner, that it was for his own good; they actually seemed to expect him to be grateful to be forcibly turned into someone else's property, to lose his freedom.
Kuroo would...like to say he'd fought harder. Or at least he'd like to say it without lying to himself. But part of him had fought to stay. The petting, the affection, the companionship that filled a hole he hadn't even recognized the size of before...and, of course, there was some degree of relaxation in the realization that the worst has already happened. He'd been caught already. He could take a break from looking over his shoulder.
Besides, he'd argued with himself, he did feel some gratitude for the care they'd taken in helping him get better. And it would be a lot easier to escape from an owner than the pound, surely, so there was no harm in humoring them and letting himself be adopted. He could even see if this master thing is everything humans insist it is, on a trial basis. And his good behavior would mean that his new owner probably wouldn't take too many precautions against his escape.
So he'd waited. And then, one day, a tall blond had walked in. His eyes had lit up when he saw Kuroo, and Kuroo had experienced...probably the strangest sensation of his life. There'd been reluctance, fear, almost a borderline disgust; after all, he knows some humans just want pets as sex slaves, that others treat them like unthinking beasts, and yet others abuse them terribly. He has no idea what kind of human this is, and the way the man looked at him told him he was most likely going to find out, for better or worse.
And yet...right alongside those unpleasant feelings, that bitterness and fear, there'd been a strange, swelling hopefulness. Almost eagerness. Someone wanted him. He wanted to be wanted.
It had definitely been a weird feeling. Two entirely separate parts of his brain, asking "is this my master?", in two dramatically different voices.
And then he'd watched the man fill out the paperwork, picked up his name - Tsukishima Akiteru - gotten distinctly worked up and nervous...and then the idiot had told him, with apparently no self-awareness whatsoever, "Oh, my little brother's going to love you!"
Kuroo had spent the entire trip to the brother's place brooding
while Akiteru talked up his little brother in Kuroo's sullen silence. A less than auspicious introduction to being a pet - getting slapped across the face with the realization that he was no longer an independent sentient being, but a piece of property to be owned and given away at will. To be claimed by one person to give to someone who might not even want him, which had been the one positive emotion in this whole experience. The feeling that someone wanted him, specifically him.He'd tried to temper his expectations for meeting Akiteru's much-hyped brother, and it turned out to be a good thing he had. Tsukishima Kei had gone from flabbergasted into a beautiful range of emotions, ranging from exasperated to awkward to self-conscious to put upon. 'Happy' hadn't been in the spectrum. Kuroo wasn't wanted by him, either. And yet, despite that, Akiteru somehow convinced Kei to keep Kuroo.
So...an owner who doesn't want a pet, and a pet who doesn't want to be owned. What a great match.
For all that, Kuroo has to admit that being owned - aside from the inherent dignity - isn't a bad experience. Kei basically gives him the run of the apartment, not particularly forbidding anything that isn't overtly disruptive or destructive. Kuroo's been able to read, to watch TV, and if he's had to sleep on the floor...well, Akiteru hadn't bothered with the foresight of thinking about where Kuroo would sleep, apparently, assuming Kei didn't want to share the bed with him, and Kuroo can't blame Kei for not being prepared for what he didn't know was coming. He's been well fed. Kei doesn't talk down to him, though honestly neither of them really know how to interact with each other at all so there isn't much talking in general.
And, once or twice, Kei's left the window open. Kuroo's not sure if it's an invitation, Kei hoping Kuroo will leave on his own, or if it's some form of quiet, conscientious assurance that Kuroo's not going to be held against his will here. Whatever it is, though, Kuroo's not interested in leaving - not yet.
He has to admit, Kei...intrigues him. If he is going to be owned by someone, Kuroo feels, Kei is the kind of human he could tolerate. Kei doesn't show any signs Kuroo can perceive of thinking Kuroo, or pets in general, are lesser than him - nor does he seem interested in encouraging, much less forcing, Kuroo to do anything he doesn't want to. He's distant, but respectful. It's tolerable enough - and the ability for Kuroo to leave is open enough - that Kuroo's prepared to stay until, or unless, he has some specific reason to go.
And the urge to do something nice for Kei - partly because Kei's taking care of him, partly just to see what would happen if he did - is growing. It's why Kuroo's abandoned his sunny spot by the window to go look for Kei, prowling noiselessly through the apartment.]
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[Part of it is probably just because of who he is as a person. Social or extroverted, he’s not. There are days he could go by just interacting with cashiers at stores and, boom, done, mandatory human social meter filled out, he’s good for home now. In fact, outside of a very few select friends, bacteria, and what few bugs manage to break through the defenses of his apartment, Kei thinks he could probably be perfectly fine with not interacting with a single other living being for weeks on end. And a pet? Is very definitively another living being. In fact, they’re living beings that, in theory, require a lot of attention and care and probably not being an asshole.]
[That makes him sound lazy when he puts it that way but, to hell with it, fine. If that makes him lazy, so be it.]
[Besides, if he wanted to advertise his godforsaken fetishes out in the open, he’d buy a t-shirt advertising the fact.]
[That’s what it comes down to in the end, after all. Kei’s not fooled, or oblivious. Oh, sure, people like to dress up pet ownership in all sorts of pretty little ways. For the aesthetic, for having company for their children, for simple loving but strictly platonic company for themselves- on and on. Everyone with any sense knows it’s for sex. Once you stop being elementary aged, everyone knows what you’re doing if you say you have a pet at home, or if you walk around with one. It’s cringe levels of embarrassment. If he had a choice, Kei is pretty sure he’d pick a glow-in-the-dark shirt with the words “I’M A HUGE PERVERT” over walking in public with a pet at his side. Despite this common sense fact, even the instructional books that he’s occasionally flipped through oozed honey sweetness and tittering. Instinctively, he hadn’t trusted those kind of books at the first sentence. In fact, he doesn’t trust anything that gooey and gushing and trying too hard.]
[As someone used to faking himself, all plastered on smiles and lilting voice, he recognizes bullshit when he sees it.]
[And… There is a hefty amount of bullshit in the whole thing, he thinks.]
[Once, when he’d been a kid- he can’t remember the occasion. It might have been a family thing, he thinks. The details have never been important. What had been important was that, one, there’d been a lot of people, and, two, one of those people had come with their pet.]
[Listening to his parents and brother, apparently Kei had always been a wide eyed and curious child taking in everything. (Kei himself neither confirms nor denies any of these claims.) It had shown mostly in his vivacious attitude towards dinosaurs when he’d first seen Jurassic Park, but, really, he’d been like that towards everything. Taking it all in.]
[And, at that dumb little get together, he’d stared at that older relative, and he’d stared at his pet and…. It’d been so obvious to him, at that young age. And, for all that he was a bright child who knew big complicated latin words (because that was a Requirement for dinosaurs), he’d still been a child. And any child, when spotting something interesting, feels the strong urge to do one thing: say it at the top of their lungs for everyone to hear.]
[In Kei’s case, what he’d said, loud and clear so no one at the party could miss it, had been “Wow, that dog REALLY hates him!”]
[Typically, the reactions had ranged from embarrassed to outright laughter, and he’d known well enough then to not say anything else as his parents had hastily made him apologize. Even at the tender age of an elementary student, Kei didn’t believe in apologizing for things that were true or obvious, let alone something that was both. What he’d said, with the aptitude for loop holes so many children have, had been an apology for being so loud.]
[But he’d been right. Even now, years later, Kei is fairly certain of that fact. He can remember it all clearly, the looks that dog had been giving his elder relatively: the quirk back of her ears, the way her tail had been lowered, how her eyes had narrowed whenever she’d glanced at him. The loathing had been so toxic that his child self had been fascinated by it. Television only showed pets that looked at their owners with slavish adoration, after all. To see a pet practically turn the air pitch with her disgust and hatred, at least in the eyes of a child, was amazing.]
[After that, he never said anything about it again. However, he’s never stopped picking up on it. Sure, there are some pets he sees out in the street who seem…. Alright with how things are going, some that even seem genuinely happy to be where they are. Yet, more than once over the years, he’s seen the same kid of look as that dog: a bitter and wary hatred, held in place only by chains.]
[Christ. He could never deal with that kind of look leveled at him, just because, what, he wanted company? A fuckbuddy? Hell no.]
[At least, he could never deal with that, past tense, because his older brother went and got him one anyway.]
[Thinking about it, Kei still sometimes wishes someone would have just shot him in the gut that day instead of him having to open the door and come face to face with his brother, a pet, and the knowledge that Akiteru had absolutely been aware of what had been on his search history for an indeterminate amount of time.]
[It’s been a while since then, and Kei still isn’t sure he’s succeeding at this owner thing. Actually, he feels certain that he’s doing the exact opposite. He’s never stopped watching people, or pets, and he’s spotted Kuroo’s discontent the second he was able to stop focusing past his shame of what his brother knew about his internet browsing habits.]
[What he’d always figured would happened had: the pet that ended up with him didn’t want to be there. It's that dumb family gathering all over again, only now his foot has been shoved into the other shoe.]
[Not because Kei hasn’t been trying, he thinks. In fact, he likes to think he’s adapted pretty well, for someone who randomly got another living being almost his height dumped into his apartment. It’d been a bit of a scramble, but, besides the bed thing (the couch works fine, right? Right?), he’s got all the basics covered. But…. He’s not an idiot. He knows he’s aloof company, awkward, and that there are better things out there besides his place. It’s why he’s left the window open- if Kuroo thinks he’ll be happier outside figuring things out on his own, then Kei is more than fine with it.]
[Except... He hasn’t left. And Kuroo is intelligent; that’s one of the first things Kei learned about him. If he hasn’t paid mind to the window being left open once, twice, three times, then, well… It’s obviously his choice.]
[Kei doesn’t know how to deal with it, honestly, so he just… tries to pretend life is normal, just now with an additional housemate. It’s become a lot easier once he’s taken a step back and not bothered to be hands on, he has to admit. Kuroo can take of himself, although Kei still makes dinner for two just because it feels rude not to.]
[For today, normal means curling up in his room at his desk, one knee drawn up lazily against his chest and his headphones in place. Kuroo, upon entering, will probably be easily able to note that Kei is currently watching porn on his computer, although at least not… the normal way people watch porn. There’s scoffs, snorts, eye rolls nearly audible, and more than once a mockingly mimicked voice line that’s clearly from his screen, although he seems to be making an effort to keep his voice low.]
That’s sure not a flattering angle….
[It’s muttered to himself in dry amusement.]
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But instead of that typical owner-pet scene...Kuroo walks in on Kei talking to himself. And, with his height and Kei seated, it only takes him a step or two into the room to see all the bared flesh on-screen, the rhythmic movements, and he knows it's porn even before he draws close enough to make out details. His master is watching porn. And not in a masturbatory way, but like a critic, or a heckler at a comedy show.
While it completely ruins Kuroo's initial plans, he finds himself amused. His owner is...definitely weird. But not in an unpleasant way. He finds himself wanting to investigate, and not entirely call off his own idea...so he moves forward, draping over the back of Kei's chair and, by extension, his shoulders, peering at his skin.]
I'd ask if this is what you like, but you're making it pretty obvious it's not.
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[...Actually. Can pets smell sexual frustration? Kei makes a face, partially because of his train of thought, and partially because he's pretty sure what just happened on screen is grossly unhygienic. He's sure having to wonder a lot of things he would have been happier never knowing without a pet roommate-]
[A weight suddenly drapes across his shoulders and he nearly falls out of his chair from a heart attack.]
[Nearly means it doesn't actually happen, his foot stomping down to catch him before he can get even close to falling out of the chair, and he jerks his head to stare in shock at Kuroo. Reaching up, he jerks his headphones down.]
What- have you heard of knocking-
[Belatedly, he realizes that his headphones down means that even someone without cat ears could hear the grindingly fake moans coming out from them. With his face and throat heating up uncontrollably- he's usually good at fighting back his blushes- Kei immediately gets the video to a pause before clicking out of it entirely.]
[Goddammit.]
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He's peering at the screen with some interest before Kei tabs away, and then he makes a mild noise of disappointment. His position means that this happens basically right next to Kei's ear.] No fair, I wanted to see what was so bad about it.
[He glances questioningly at Kei.] I didn't think a guy who doesn't want a pet would be into pet porn. Or do you only watch it to criticize it?
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[Maybe.]
[A hefty part of him wants to nudge his computer chair away, get his preferred amount of personal space, but that's easier said than done when someone is draped across you. Kei takes in a quiet breath, trying to ignore the way the sensation jolts through him. Just dumb biology at work. Good thing he's already red; he can blame any bodily reactions from being caught.]
Watch bad porn on your own time. Anyway, I'm nondiscriminatory with my porn criticisms.
[There's a few other things he wants to say- "Why do you think my brother thought I'd like a pet in the first place?" for example- but it's too horrifically embarrassing to give voice to. Ugh. He still can't believe Akiteru knows...]
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He's still draped over Kei's chair, an arm loosely wrapped around his shoulders. He's been respectful of Kei's physical boundaries up until now, if not actively standoffish; this is a fairly dramatic change. One might think it had to do with the porn, if he didn't sound only idly interested at best.]
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1/4
actually no you know what I'll tell you when I'm done
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ok I think that's it
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Give or take a week
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callie i'm going to fight you
What have I done now besides everything
everything
You're unhelpfully unspecific
/gestures to all of you???
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jumin han | mystic messenger | ota
As a pet, he will be the classiest white Persian cat who'll want to be in charge. ]
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Derex Vachel | OC | OTA
Rei Hino | Sailor Moon | F/M
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[In his canon, Kei's school is associated with crows and he has an older brother, but I'm not sure if you'd want to do anything with that? I mean, in my totally not childhood-biased opinion, Rei certainly deserves a harem, lmao, but it'd be up to you.]
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[In some families, pets stay with them through generations- whether because of a long lifespan or breeding so that there’s a generation for every individual. Loyal guard dogs, pampered cats, on and on. In the past, such things were more common, of course. The times were different. If you could afford to keep a pet, then it was best to make them last. Modern times don’t see such a thing as a necessity anymore. Practicality has been exchanged for the individual sense of self, with people wanting pets they’ve chosen themselves in search of that “true match”.]
[But Hikawa Shrine has always had a murder of crows.]
[It’s tradition, after all. A generation to tend to the shrine begets a generation of crows to tend to them. That’s how it’s been for as long as the shrine as existed. No other creature would do, with the crow’s mythical connection to the divine, or their similar appearances to tengu. At least that’s how it’s reasoned. It’s a unique position for most pets, at any rate. Just as much as the family is tied to the shrine, so are the crows. They tend to it, serve the priests and miko who have been there, and, when necessary... ]
[Well. In that aspect, they’re like most other pets: there for their owner’s sexual troubles. While there’s always been a “true match” for every generation, it’s always been assumed that the priests and mikos could approach any of their crows. As though truly guided by divine hands, not once has there been generations which didn’t suit each other perfectly.]
[It’s a good arrangement: past generations either retire to further in the mountains to breed or pass their life quietly, and the current generation stays on temple grounds in a section of their own while a few older individuals watch over them. The current generation is no different: a record breaking flock of fourteen of mostly boys with a smattering of girls, and a couple older ones staying to make sure they don’t cause too much trouble.]
[And it’s Tsukishima Kei, from the younger side of the flock, that was made out to be Hino Rei’s match.]
[It’d been decided years ago, when they’d all been children. There’s a practice to these kind of things, after all, each group having been divided by age (no one older than her by a couple of years) before she’d been introduced to each batch of crows. It’d been the youngest batch, the batch born the same year as her, that Kei had first met her and first been introduced properly to what it meant to be a miko’s match as a pet.]
[When he’d been younger, he’d waited at the shrine’s torii for her to come back from school with barely contained eagerness. Sometimes accompanied by his older brother Akiteru, older by some six years, or sometimes his best friend Yamaguchi, but certainly there. Gold eyes wide and a smile on his face, he’d always waited. He still waits now, in fact, although he’s not so easy going. He’s the perfect picture of calm as Rei comes up to the gates, head dipped down and eyes closed while a pair of headphones (hers, she might note) are wrapped around his head. Despite this, he still opens his eyes in time once she’s close enough.]
Welcome back. You took a little longer this time.
this is a+ quality, i love this already
[ In another world, Rei would probably be a lot less patient with her classmates, always hovering and pleading and oh, Rei, the drama club needs this or can you help the student council with that? But, instead, she's been raised around flocks - flocks of crows, of course, but in some ways, creatures to tend to and kohai are not that different. Still, if it came down to it, she'd rather be home with the crows than just about anywhere else.
There's a bond there that most people who don't have pets just can't understand. She wouldn't even try to explain it.
Yet the crows of Hikawa Shrine aren't mere pets. They're not servants either, or...or...she wouldn't even think about the disgusting things some idiots would throw around about them. Sure, there's an element of intimacy between the crows and the priests and priestesses - there has been for centuries because who else could understand each other better - but to say it so vulgarly isn't anything Rei would let slide. Again, what the relationship is about is the bond, almost a divine one that came from the spirits themselves. While she loves all of her flock, the strongest bond is between her and Kei, her true match. She'd grown up with Kei, so much so that life without him isn't even a thought that enters her mind. They'd played together, learned together, spent so much time together that her grandfather had joked that if he ever wanted to talk to her, he'd just find Kei.
That's how it's always been with the two of them, though there has been some awkward times recently. Rei's developed an eye for boys, meaning another piece of their puzzle has made itself painfully obvious. The transition to that kind of relationship hasn't been exactly easy on either party, but if there's anyone Rei has a weakness for, it's Kei. He'll always get off the easiest when it comes to her.
Which, partly, is why she doesn't give him too much of sneer when she sees he's plundered her room for her headphones. Crows are like any bird in their love of nicking things that catch their interest. ]
At least you had something to do. [ There's a light note of frustration in her voice, not directed towards him. ] Come on, let's go in.
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[For all that he phrases it like a criticism of other people- and, as he's grown older, Kei seems to have quite a few of them although mostly for outsiders than anything really for anyone of the temple- he has to admit that he doesn't like having to wait for her.]
[Logically, he knows it's just dumb jealousy. For Hikawa crows, there's no other life available for them beyond the temple. Oh, sure, they'll venture out now and then, always wearing some sort of charm to keep people from harassing temple pets. That's how crows are. Anything with wings will always want to use them. But that's for short adventures, or simple tasks like shopping. When you come down to it... Hikawa Shrine is the only place really viable, for any of them. Kei isn't oblivious; he's seen the clipped wings of the occasional other feathered pet.]
[...And worse.]
[At the shrine, at least, they can fly, and they're all together. And, Kei tells himself, Rei would never clip his wings. It's that thought which comforts him whenever he sees a less fortunate pet.]
[A lot of things about Rei help comfort him whenever he secretly gets aggravated, and, well, that leads back to the issue, doesn't it? Of his jealousy. Hikawa Shrine and Hino Rei make up his entire world. It's a little frightening how important it all is to his life, his sense of self. With her not around, while he can keep himself occupied for a while, Kei can't help but get listless after a bit. Things being thrown off schedule makes it worse.]
[Best he can, he smothers those feelings away and out of sight. It's a reaction so ingrained in his personality, he doesn't even think about it. And, anyway, what kind of pet would burden his master with those kind of worries?]
[There are other things to worry about these days, too, like the awkwardness that's bubble between them recently. Theoretically, Kei knows what's coming. Gods and all the little spirits, but he's even gotten the talk from his brother, not to mention a couple of the adult crows that play babysitter. Yet the road to it has been... rocky, and he can't help but feel he's messing up somewhere.]
[While he agonizes over there in the privacy of his head, however, he tries to treat things as normal between the two of them. So when she starts to move past the gates, he shifts to be right besides her. Adolescence kickstarted the growth for a lot of them and he was already the tallest in the flock to start with; his wings have grown to match. It's a simple thing to adjust one of them to go around her, like a buffer against anything, for all that's usually just a mild breeze.]
Are you talking about the headphones? I'd like to defend my innocence by saying that I didn't take them. That was one of the others; I just volunteered to take them back to your room. [A playful smirk flicks onto his face.] You should have seen the chewing out they got.
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[ Her question's primarily nonchalant, her face almost equally so. Really, there's nothing she wouldn't mind sharing with the crows, especially the younger ones...except for her manga collection. Usagi's enough of a threat to that as it is.
As Kei wraps a large, dark wing around her, she falls into step with him as if its a second nature. In years before, she'd always give his wing a loving ruffle. These days? An action like that earned a response (maybe a natural instinct that comes from the sensitivity of wings) that isn't as innocent as she remembered.
And what's worse is her own reaction to his, the way she loved to see him at his most sensitive and cutest. Like she's some kind of terrible pervert. Or, worse, like he's - he's a boyfriend, or something.
The crows are not pets. They're not servants, either, but they're certainly not boyfriends, because there are duties that can never be forgotten.
So she stop her hand from moving upward, instead tucking it against her side with her other arm stretched across her chest. She shrugs. ]
Anyway, I'll have to give you an order: watch out for my room when I'm gone, because I'm going to have to stay at school later for a little while.
[ That's punctuated with a not-entirely-performative sigh. ]
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[Even as he's feigning the usual cool apathy, he watches carefully when her hand starts to rise up. There's an undeniable anticipation, a tension he can feel from his back through his wings. They both know that he, and all the other crows, have grown to be sensitive there. It's been mortifying discovering that, of course, or them doing things out of habit and being firmly reminded of the change, but...]
[He'd liked it. Liked it despite the mortification, and the fumbling awkwardness. It'd felt nice although he can't come out and say it.]
[Besides... If she'd just touch him now again, it'd be... something. A sign. A show that there's still a chance for him to serve her like he's supposed to, both as one of the flock for their priestess and as Rei's personal true match.]
[She doesn't touch him. Her fingers don't slide through his feathers, cracking through his cool facade. Sliding his eyes away, he tries to tell himself it's not a big deal.]
I guess it'll keep me busy, then. [The rest of the flock can clean the temple and look after visitors. There's enough of them. It's the rest of her words that nudge at him.] What is it in particular this time?
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Todd the Wraith // Stargate Atlantis
Fem!Castiel | Supernatural | f/m
John Watson | Sherlock | M/M
matou sakura ; fate/stay night ; m/f
Nekomaru Nidai | Dangan Ronpa | M/F
angela ❝ᴍᴇʀᴄʏ❞ ziegler • overwatch ( OTA )
as a pet, she's likely a songbird or a herding dog type used for therapy. )